New Delhi, June 1 (IANS) In a significant development, the Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to grant a stay on the investigation against Ashneer Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover, prominent figures in the business world, in connection with an FIR registered by the Delhi Police.

Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani said that at this stage, no case is made out for staying the investigation.

However, the High Court issued notice to the Delhi Police and BharatPe on a plea by Grovers seeking quashing of the FIR, as well as the application seeking stay of the investigation.

Delhi Police's EOW filed the FIR in May based on a complaint lodged by BharatPe, accusing the couple of involvement in a fraudulent activity amounting to a staggering Rs 81 crore.

The Delhi High Court's refusal to stay the investigation indicates that the legal proceedings against the Grovers will continue unabated.

The FIR was registered under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 408 (criminal breach of trust by clerk or servant), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc.), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

A senior police official privy to investigation said that a complaint was received and after initial enquiry into the allegations, the FIR was registered.

"We welcome the registration of an FIR by the EOW in the company's complaint in relation to the criminal offences by Grover, his wife Madhuri Jain and other family members. For the last 15 months, the company has been facing a vicious and malicious campaign run by Grover against the company, the board and its employees," said BharatPe in a statement.

"The registration of the FIR is a step in the right direction which unearths various suspicious transactions made by the family for their personal pecunary gains. This FIR will now enable the law enforcement agencies to investigate deeper into the criminality and bring the culprits to books," it said.

"We have full faith in our country's judicial and law enforcement systems and are optimistic that this case will reach its logical conclusion. We will continue to extend all possible cooperation to the authorities. MZM legal is advising us (BharatPe) on the criminal case," it added.

New Delhi, May 11 (IANS) The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police has registered an FIR against former BharatPe managing director, Ashneer Grover for cheating and fraud of Rs 81 crore.

The FIR, which was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by the company BharatPe, also mentions the name of his wife Madhuri Jain Grover, and three relatives -- Deepak Gupta, Suresh Jain and Shwetank Jain.

The FIR was registered on Wednesday under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 408 (criminal breach of trust by clerk or servant), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc.), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code at EOW police station.

A senior police official privy to the investigation said that a complaint was received and after initial enquiry into the allegations, the FIR was registered.

"We welcome the registration of an FIR by the EOW in the company's complaint in relation to the criminal offences by Mr. Grover, his wife Madhuri Jain and other family members. For the last 15 months, the Company has been facing a vicious and malicious campaign run by Grover against the Company, the board and its employees," said BharatPe in a statement.

"The registration of the FIR is a step in the right direction which unearths various suspicious transactions made by the family for their personal pecuniary gains. This FIR will now enable the Law enforcement agencies to investigate deeper into the criminality and bring the culprits to books," it said.

"We have full faith in our country's judicial and law enforcement systems and are optimistic that this case will reach its logical conclusion. We will continue to extend all possible cooperation to the authorities. MZM legal is advising us (BharatPe) on the criminal case," it added.

New Delhi - Ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 that begins from March 31, Ashneer Grover's new venture Third Unicorn has launched a fantasy sports app called CrickPe that aims to take on Dream11 and Mobile Premier League (MPL).

"Biggest revolution in Cricket since IPL - only fantasy game paying cricketers for performance. Where you win, cricketer wins, cricket wins," Grover said in a tweet.

CrickPe will levy a 10 per cent platform fee of the total funds received for any public or private contest.

It allows players above 18 years of age to create a virtual team of cricket players and enter paid contests to earn cash prizes.

"It is the only fantasy cricket app in the world where with every match, the actual playing cricketers, cricketing bodies and real team owners win cash rewards, along with the fantasy game winners," according to its description on Google Play Store.

The online fantasy sports market is currently dominated by Dream11.

Former BharatPe Co-founder and Managing Director Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover launched CrickPe to grab a pie of the growing fantasy sports market.

According to a report by the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS) in collaboration with Deloitte, India's fantasy sports market is likely to grow from Rs 34,600 crore in FY21 to an estimated Rs 1,65,000 crore by FY25, registering a CAGR of 38 per cent.

India is the world's biggest fantasy sports market with a user base of more than 13 crore.

Grover's Third Unicorn has been building a "market shaking" business which is "bootstrapped" and "without limelight", according to a recent LinkedIn post by Ashneer.

According to data accessed through Tofler, the Grovers last year registered the new company. The firm had a total paid-up capital of Rs 10 lakh and an authorised share capital of Rs 20 lakh.

Grover had said he was planning to start his own venture without seeking funds from the investors.

(IANS)

Several top venture capitalist (VC) firms have expressed deep concern over the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a US bank that serves the global startup community. In a joint statement, VC leaders including Accel, Khosla Ventures, Altimeter Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mayfield Fund, Ribbit Capital, and Redpoint Ventures, among others, called the bank's downfall "disappointing and concerning". The statement also expressed support for SVB's potential acquisition and appropriate capitalization.

According to a report by news agency IANS, Ashneer Grover, former founder of BharatPe, offered a solution and criticized the bureaucratic joint resolutions by VC firms. He took a dig at Hemant Taneja, investor and managing partner at General Catalyst, and other VC firms, saying "ebanks don't get saved by passing these bureaucratic UN type joint resolutions by people with no intent to get their hands dirty. It requires intent and balls of steel". Grover had earlier claimed that the acquisition of the crisis-ridden Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank (PMC) by Centrum-BharatPe consortium was the "smartest corporate move in history".

On Friday, the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) took control of SVB's $175 billion in customer deposits, leaving several startups worried about their investments and active accounts in the bank. The top VC leaders advised startup founders to diversify instead of panic.

New Delhi, Feb 23 (IANS) Former BharatPe co-founder and managing director Ashneer Grover shared his experience at the Delhi airport and suggested steps to overcome delayed entries.

After he had to wait for 30 minutes just to enter the airport, Grover said in a series of tweets: "Delhi airport T3 needs an overhaul! 30 minutes to just enter airport is insane. Suggestions 1) Separate gates for international / business 2) 2 people at gate to check ticket/id (why 3 people check boarding pass between boarding gate and aircraft ? Move them !

"3)Please start flights to US/Canada/UK from Chandigarh Airport -- Delhi airport is actually Punjab airport practically. All the people travelling to Delhi from Punjab daily to catch international flight is just waste of resources."

In response, the Delhi airport thanked him for his "valuable suggestions".

"Dear Ashneer, We thank you for taking your time to share your experience and valuable feedback. Currently, DigiYatra is only deployed for domestic travellers as per govt guidelines. We would like to apprise you that we have dedicated check points for domestic and international passengers such as terminal entrance, security & immigration counters (or International passengers), available for business class passengers.

"As you are aware, immigration is a sovereign function across the world and as the Airport operator we regularly collaborate with the Bureau of Immigrations to enhance the facilities and passenger experience. Further, on Punjab flights, we are working closely with various stakeholders.

"We would like to assure you that passenger satisfaction is always paramount for us and we always work upon the suggestions in a constructive manner to improve the passenger experience. Looking forward to your understanding and continued support. We wish to serve you better in future."